The Devil Walks Among Us; Book l - Completed 4/21/22

Subdued Memories

The drive home was silent. Michael drove slowly along the now quiet and empty roads as he proceeded to live inside his head, ignoring the worried expression on Mia's face. She had spoken to him after they had started driving, but he ignored her. "Michael?"

Again, he ignored her. It wasn't that he didn't want to be around her, but he knew that the conversation that followed wasn't going to be a good one. He wasn't himself after seeing the photo of his mother, but this feeling he was carrying was far heavier than the love in his chest for Mia and Ella - this was a sadness. He had realized he never found his closure for what happened to his mother and he found it hard to look at Mia as she looked at him worriedly - the same look he remembered his mother looking at him when she would come and visit him at Smith's Grove...every day...until suddenly, she had seemed to vanish. The one person that still loved him and cared about him vanished into thin air...

...He was afraid that it was going to happen again with Mia and Ella. He almost lost them once. He can't bear the thought of actually losing them. The Shape would consume him once more, demolishing everything in his path. He wanted to avoid her - to not be around when they would be taken as he physically could not handle it if he were to see it happen. "Michael?" He heard her say again. He sighed, this time showing aggravation towards her.

Parking the truck, Michael did his usual routine by reaching over to unbuckle Mia and pull the latch on her door, but things were different now. She stopped him from doing the familiar gesture. "I got it." She said, unbuckling herself and letting herself out of the truck, leaving Michael sitting in the driver's seat, watching her struggle to retrieve Ella from her car seat as it was clear Mia was still sore from her injuries.

He watched her through this peripheral vision, waiting on her to say something. He heard her sigh, feeling her eyes on him. "Are you coming in?"

He nodded slightly, refusing to reply. Instead, he let himself out of the truck, putting the keys into his pocket before opening the door behind him, picking up one of the four boxes of paperwork Mia had brought home from her workplace, still managing to beat her to the front door to unlock the door for her, ensuring that she and Ella made it inside before him. "I'm going to go feed her. She's restless. I didn't realize how late it was." She frowned, still not receiving a reply from him. This was nothing new as she had been used to his silent nature for over a year before he had felt comfortable enough to talk to her. She had figured something had triggered him to act this way, so she decided to just give him his space as this wasn't the first time he had times like this.

He nodded, walking past her to sit the box on the table before going back outside to get the rest of the boxes. With heavy font catching his eye, he couldn't help but look at the box that contained personal files, knowing almost immediately that it was a mistake that Molly had made if she hadn't had been too intrigued by Michael and Ella. Maybe this will be in my favor...

Looking behind him to see if Mia had been watching, he peeled away the lid of the box, seeing various tabs that were labeled with current and terminated employees. Glancing over the names that drew interest to him, one stuck out:

NELSON, KAREN - EMP. # 21922

Michael chuckled to himself, "Gotcha."

Remembering her address at 305 Ravenwood Drive, he knew he would be hunting tonight.

He finished bringing the boxes into the house, hearing Mia in their bedroom down the hallway. He leaned against the doorframe, watching Mia put Ella into her pajamas, seeing the heated blanket splayed on their bed, keeping Ella's bare skin warm as Mia rubbed lotion on Ella's legs and arms after her bath. "You're so pretty, Ms. Thing!" Mia smiled down at her, playfully tickling her feet, her heart swelling as Ella smiled back at her. "I'm surprised you're still awake! It's bedtime, girly! Momma's tired." She cooed, buttoning the onesie before wrapping her in her fleece blanket, holding her close to her chest before going over to the rocking chair. She didn't notice Michael had been watching her, but she wasn't too concerned about it as she gave Michael the space she felt he needed.

Michael returned to the kitchen, deciding to make him and Mia a snack as she still had sweet cravings before bed. He was waiting on her to go to sleep before making his move, but he wasn't going to rush her.

Soon, he returned to their bedroom, seeing Ella asleep in the bassinet near their bed, while Mia was laying on her side of the bed, the heating blanket draped over her. "Hurting?" He asked, the first word to come out of his mouth since he and Mia had left the John's. She nodded, keeping her hands on her stomach as she was still suffering with intense cramps and pressure as her uterus was still shrinking back to its original size, her abdomen still making her appear as if she were still pregnant.

He sighed, setting a plate he had brought her on the nightstand with her favorite sweet snack - a piece of strawberry cheesecake. He proceeded to walk into the bathroom, the sound of him rummaging through the cabinets filling the silent room before coming back to her side, an Ibuprofen pill and two melatonin gummies. "Thank you." She whispered, taking them from his open palm, sitting up in the bed as Michael handed her the bottle of water she had always kept on her nightstand. He watched her take the medicine before laying back down, Michael covering her back up in the bed, surprised that she was still awake past midnight. We did get back late...

"Are you coming to bed?" She asked, her eyes heavy.

"Not yet," He replied. "I'm restless tonight."

"You wanna talk about it?" She hummed, her eyes now closed.

He smirked at her sleepy nature, "It's not important. You need sleep."

"So do you, Michael."

"I know, but I'm just restless tonight."

"So that's who Ella gets it from."

"She gets it from you too."

Mia scoffed, "Since when am I restless?"

"It's obvious you don't remember when you wake up in the middle of the night scavenging the kitchen then blaming me for when your favorite snack is gone."

"...Oh."

Michael chuckled, "Get some sleep. I'll come to bed soon. I'm going to be in the barn working to blow some steam off."

"Okay." Mia yawned.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She replied, loosening her grip on his hand as he exited the room.

Unbeknownst to her, he had just lied.